Education

Arts and Letters

Painting: Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) paints “The Blue Boy.”

Ideas

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) writes "Thoughts on the Causes of the Present Discontent."

Adams, Abigail

Susanna Adams (1767-1770), second daughter of Abigail and John Adams, dies at 13 months of age on February 4. It is widely reported that she was "sickly" from birth (usually a way of saying either that the cause was an unknown infection or that no one really knew what was wrong).

Adams, Abigail

A second son, Charles (1770-1800), is born to Abigail and John Adams on November 30. John Adams is asked to defend the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre; he does, and they are acquitted.

Economics

U.S. Population: The American colonies’ population is estimated at 2.2 million.

Economics

"The New England Psalm Singer," by William Billings (1746-1800), marks the beginning of publishing of American compositions.

Ideas

Ideas

Washington, Martha

George Washington (1732-1799) attends the Second Continental Congress, where he accepts command of the Continental Army. In December, Martha (1731-1802) joins him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Government

The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.

Government

American Flag: On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passes the first Flag Act which states: "That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."

War

Revolutionary War: The Marquis de Lafayette’s (1757-1834) French volunteers arrive in America.

War

Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne (1722-1792) is defeated and surrenders to the Americans at Saratoga, NY.

Science

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) proves that air consists mainly of oxygen and nitrogen, and coins the term oxygen.

Medicine

George Washington (1732-1799) orders his soldiers to be inoculated against smallpox.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) writes the comedy "The School for Scandal."

Jefferson, Martha

The only Jefferson son was born May 28 and died a short while later on June 14. Over the course of time, this child's name has been lost.

Economics

Women''s Firsts: Baltimore postmaster Mary Katherine Goddard (1738-1816) is the first person to print the Declaration of Independence.

Daily Life

Women’s Firsts: Mary Katherine Goddard (1738-1816) became the first printer to offer copies of the Declaration of Independence that included the signers' names.

Religion

The New Testament of the Bible is published in English for the first time in America.

Religion

The chapel of the San Juan Capistrano mission, the oldest building still in existence in California, is built.

Social Issues

Slavery: Vermont abolishes slavery, becoming the first colony to do so.

Social Issues

Civil Rights Movement: New York enfranchises all free propertied men regardless of color or prior servitude.

1778

Law, Politics, Government, and War

Science, Medicine, Inventions, and Technology

Education, Arts and Letters, and Ideas

Lives of the First Ladies

Economics, Discovery, and Daily Life

Sports and Popular Culture

Religion, Social Issues, and Reform

Government

Congress ratifies a treaty with France and rejects a British peace offer.

Government

Slavery: An Act of Congress prohibits the import of slaves into the U.S.